Whole Chicken Recipes

We recently threw a barbecue dinner, and as I mentioned in last week's video, we grow all sorts of lavender. I made a marinade for chicken legs with lavender honey, lemon juice, herbes de Provence, dry sherry, garlic and soy sauce and used half of it for the glaze.

The glaze was thickened with tapioca starch; I used it as soon as the grill marks were visible on the chicken. I reinforced the lavender flavor with soaked sprigs of lavender. If you don't have fresh lavender, fresh rosemary would work fine too.

I usually use lemon juice as a meat tenderizer; the acidity from the citrus is perfect for softening meat and getting it extra tender. For Thanksgiving, I wanted to try something different, so I tested a new chicken recipe by substituting cranberry juice for the lemon juice. I wanted to make sure the skin was nice and crispy, so I pan-fried the chicken first, then completed cooking in the oven.

I still don't have a final count on the number of meat eaters attending our Thanksgiving. I know for sure we'll have many vegetarian side dishes and appetizers to please my husband Lulu, Daddy and the girls, but I'm still wondering if I'll roast an entire turkey or two chickens. This recipe will work for either bird, so I’m covered either way. And so are you!

I'm spending some family time in France this month. At the end of this week, I'm going to be cooking for my sister's family while Aria gets to spend some time with her cousins. This is the chicken recipe I'm planning to prepare for our dinner meal. The chicken is flavored with preserved lemons, dried apricots, fennel and harissa. The process is much the same as for my tandoori chicken recipe, but with North African flavors. There is a large North African community in France, and as a child I enjoyed many similar wonderful dishes. I've learned a lot about the flavors from the region and have savored many spectacular dishes from its culture.

The dish incorporates lots of sweet flavors, as is common in North African cuisine. I'll serve this on a bed of semolina with a fennel salad. I hope they'll like it!

The cherries from the farmers' market this week weren't very sweet, so I used them in a savory dish and paired them with my specialty, rotisserie chicken. I marinated the poultry overnight in a flavorful, buttery mixture and roasted the meat the following day. Once the chicken was fully cooked, I used the pan drippings and poached the pitted cherries until softened.

This method is my way to make good use of fruit that can't be eaten as is or in dessert. Next time you're a bit disappointed with the groceries you bring home, think twice before wasting them; there's almost always a clever way to turn an item into a delicious dish and no one will ever suspect the reason you decided to go this route!

It may be almost sacrilegious to say at this time of the year, but a turkey is not right for everyone. While the big bird (sorry Sesame Street fans) parked on your dinner table, roasted to perfection looks great, if you're having an intimate gathering it can just be too much.

A beautifully roasted chicken is a completely reasonable option, and I've shared one today that uses a sumptuous combination of Medjool dates, date syrup, date molasses and green olives. If you follow the instructions carefully, your chicken will turn out moist and succulent, and more important, won't have you pining for what Benjamin Franklin suggested as our national bird. You can thank my citizenship test prep for that reference!